Donald Trump has announced sweeping new universal tariffs tonight on all imports into the United States. Justin, Sarah and Anthony unpack the U.S. president’s speech at the White House. Which countries are worst affected? How will the UK be impacted? And what are the chances Trump will change his mind again and roll back on some of his announcements? HOSTS: • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent • Justin Webb, Radio 4 Presenter GET IN TOUCH: • Join our...
Apr 03, 2025•23 min
‘A lot of people want me to do it’ was Donald Trump’s answer when asked in an NBC interview on Saturday if he wanted to serve a third term as US President. The Constitution says that “no person…shall be elected more than twice”. In today’s Q&A with Matt Chorley on 5 Live, Mariana and Justin unpack whether Trump could rewrite history. The team also discuss whether the million-dollar cheques that Elon Musk has been handing out in Wisconsin ahead of a tightly contested Supreme Court Election ar...
Mar 31, 2025•26 min
Donald Trump announced this week 25% tariffs on US car imports, a move that will impact neighbours Mexico and Canada. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has called the tariffs "unjustified" and said it marked the end of "deep ties" between the two countries. Canadian journalist and podcaster Jordan Heath-Rawlings joins Sarah and Anthony today to assess how Trump's policies have flipped Canadian politics on its head. HOSTS: • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Anthony Zurcher, North America Cor...
Mar 28, 2025•31 min
The journalist who was inadvertently included in a group chat among Trump’s senior cabinet leaders and national security officials tells Sarah Smith how it happened. He also responds to the White House’s furious reaction to his decision to publish the entire exchange of messages, with Donald Trump calling the reporting a “witch hunt” and declaring the Atlantic a “failed magazine”. He also calls for the Trump administration to acknowledge the security breach and “just go fix it”. HOSTS: • Sarah S...
Mar 27, 2025•24 min
What constitutes a ‘war plan’ and when is information ‘classified’? After the revelation that the editor of The Atlantic was included in a sensitive group chat discussing plans to bomb Yemen, the magazine has taken the decision to publish the whole conversation discussing operational details of the attack. The publication says it took the decision after repeated statements from top Republicans stating that no classified information was revealed to Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg. As the fallout...
Mar 26, 2025•33 min
It’s Americanswers! Sarah, Anthony and Marianna join Matt Chorley from 5 Live to answer your questions. Today, can Donald Trump dismantle the Department of Education without going through Congress, and what impact would it have on kids with special educational needs? Also, as Canada prepares for its snap general election, what role is the U.S. playing? And why has a portrait of Donald Trump got him angry? HOSTS: • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent •...
Mar 24, 2025•29 min
How did Donald Trump get close to Elon Musk? What is the story behind his relationship with Melania, and how did Trump get re-elected against all the odds? Donald Trump is no stranger to the journalist Michael Wolff, whose latest book is his fourth on the current president. His book, All or Nothing, details the story of Trump’s comeback and and his relationships to the people who helped him do it. Trump himself has called Wolff “fake news” and described the book as “junk.” Justin spoke with the ...
Mar 21, 2025•25 min
The U.S. President is setting up a major showdown with America’s judicial system. Sarah and Justin pick apart claims that Donald Trump defied a court order by deporting more than 200 migrants to El Salvador, despite a judge ordering to be turned planes carrying the migrants to be turned back if they were already in the air. Legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers gives her view on whether Trump has broken the court ruling, and whether America is facing a constitutional crisi...
Mar 19, 2025•30 min
Donald Trump says he and Vladimir Putin will hold Ukraine peace talks on Tuesday. Sarah, Anthony, Justin and Marianna answer your questions on what they might say to each other. And they return to the subject of egg prices after claims from Trump that they’re dropping. And we find out why JD Vance has been wearing special socks. This episode was made by Chris Flynn and Catherine Fusillo. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam ...
Mar 17, 2025•36 min
The Democrats may be on the retreat politically but they're hoping to bounce back after an actual retreat this week in Leesburg, Virginia. One of the speakers at the retreat political strategist (and friend of the podcast) James Carville, who's suggested Democrats should "play dead" and do nothing against Trump. The Americast team unpack whether this approach could work, and Justin's been chatting to Democrat Congressman Seth Moulton, who thinks the party has lost touch with the country. HOSTS: ...
Mar 14, 2025•38 min
The world is bracing itself as Donald Trump enacts his global tariffs. As the president begins to enforce them upon the rest of the world, the Americast team assemble to ask whether Trump’s bet on tariffs might be a bad deal for the US. How have the markets reacted, and does Trump actually care? Plus, why has Donald Trump bought a Tesla even though he isn’t allowed to drive it? HOSTS: - Justin Webb, Radio 4 Presenter - Sarah Smith, North America Editor - Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspond...
Mar 12, 2025•25 min
Donald Trump has not ruled out the possibility of the US going into recession. Sarah, Anthony, Justin and Marianna answer your questions on how Trump’s trade war is impacting on stock markets and American voters. Plus, is the new Canadian PM, Mark Carney is escalating the war on tariffs? Also, how could the Democrats be more effective as an opposition voice, and why have we seen an influx of memes about the Vice President JD Vance? The Americast team joins Matt Chorley on 5 Live to answer all of...
Mar 10, 2025•32 min
What do we know about President Trump’s long term strategy when it comes to dealing with Russia, and where does that leave America’s relationship with Europe and Ukraine? Justin, Sarah and Anthony get an inside view from Celeste Wallander, one of Biden and Obama’s top security staffers who has been in meetings with Vladimir Putin. How does the Russian leader behave during negotiations, and what advice does she have for the Trump administration? We also look at what Trump’s reset of US/Russia rel...
Mar 06, 2025•25 min
Sarah and Anthony pick apart Donald Trump’s biggest speech since returning to the White House. He delivered it 24 hours after announcing he was pausing aid to Ukraine, and on the same day tariffs came in on Mexico and Canada. He was addressing a joint session of the US Congress, declaring “the American dream is unstoppable”. It was the the longest presidential speech to Congress on record - lasting around an hour and 40 minutes and included details of a letter from President Zelensky, his desire...
Mar 05, 2025•27 min
Presidents Trump and Zelensky clashed on Friday night in a furious exchange at the White House, during which Trump accused the Ukrainian president of “gambling with World War III.” The future of the world now seems more uncertain, and people naturally have a lot of questions.The team try to provide them as they join Matt Chorley for a special edition of their weekly Q&A. Was the conflict manufactured by a Trump-friendly reporter? How has Congress reacted? Has the incident hurt Trump in the p...
Mar 03, 2025•39 min
Our latest mini series is here and this time we're profiling some of the key players in Donald Trump's presidency, who are now running America. We’re ending the series with Robert F Kennedy Jr., the new Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has been tasked with making America healthy again - an appointment which came as a surprise to some, given that he’s been accused of supporting the anti-vaccination movement and spreading misinformation. Spurning a democratic dynasty and risking a f...
Mar 02, 2025•35 min
There were unprecedented scenes in the White House this afternoon when President Trump, Vice President JD Vance and President Zelensky clashed in an extraordinary shouting match in front of stunned reporters. Lyse Doucet and Vitaly Shevchenko from Ukrainecast are joined by former UK national security adviser Lord Ricketts to get immediate reaction, and what this all means for the future of Ukraine.
Feb 28, 2025•30 min
How successful was Sir Keir Starmer’s meeting with President Trump at the White House on Thursday? Trump praised the Prime Minister as a “tough negotiator”, but did Sir Keir get the key concessions needed over the war in Ukraine and trade? Justin, Sarah and Marianna analyse what was said - and not said - between the two leaders, and how Sir Keir Starmer played the ultimate royal card with Donald Trump. HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Marianna Spring,...
Feb 28, 2025•24 min
Donald Trump sparked a social media frenzy on Wednesday when he posted a video of Gaza generated by artificial intelligence on his site Truth Social. Marianna's been analysing Trump's social media strategy and how he attempts to influence what we see on our online feeds. Meanwhile, the fallout from Elon Musk's email to federal workers over the weekend continues. Musk asked all federal workers to list their accomplishments to him an email, and defended his actions at the first meeting of Trump's ...
Feb 26, 2025•29 min
French president Emmanuel Macron is in Washington DC for talks with Donald Trump as he - and later in the week Keir Starmer - attempt to stop a deal on the Ukraine war that favours Russia. How do you get through to the president? And, the price of eggs keeps rising in the US due to cases of bird flu. Will it cost the president politically? Justin, Anthony and Marianna joined Matt Chorley on 5 Live to answer your questions... HOSTS: • Matt Chorley, 5 Live Presenter • Anthony Zurcher, North Americ...
Feb 24, 2025•32 min
Our latest mini series is here and this time we're profiling some of the key players in Donald Trump's presidency, who are now running America. Stephen Miller is one of the most powerful people in government who many have never heard of. He’s the new White House deputy chief of staff for policy. Previously - and unusually - he also served as a senior advisor in President Trump’s first term. He is the architect behind many of the most controversial Trump policies, and is often seen next to the pr...
Feb 23, 2025•29 min
The past week has seen international diplomacy turned upside down as the US began talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. The decision to exclude Ukraine - and Europe - from these talks led to an emergency summit in which European countries sought to establish some influence over the process. But with the US and Ukrainian presidents embroiled in a dispute that led to Trump calling Zelensky a “dictator”, is their relationship beyond repair? And will Ukraine have any say over the terms of a p...
Feb 21, 2025•34 min
As the Trump administration begins peace talks with Russian officials to end the war in Ukraine, President Trump himself seems to be blaming Ukraine for it beginning at all. We ask, whose side is he on? Justin, Marianna and Anthony also look at what Zelensky means when he says Trump is “living in a disinformation space”. HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Correspondent • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent GET IN TOUCH: • Join our onli...
Feb 19, 2025•33 min
American and Russian leaders will meet in Saudi Arabia this week to begin negotiations about a peace deal for Ukraine. Trump said on Sunday he could be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin "very soon". Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Zelensky has said he has not been involved in the talks yet, and European leaders have also been left out. After Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Ukraine should not join NATO, should other member states be worried? Marianna and Sarah join Matt Chorley to talk ...
Feb 17, 2025•35 min
Our latest mini series is here and this time we're profiling some of the key players in Donald Trump's presidency, who are now running America. Over the next few weeks, new profiles will drop every Sunday. Pete Hegseth is the new Secretary of Defence, overseeing America’s military and defence strategy. A former national guardsman and Fox News host, Hegseth’s confirmation has been controversial. Dogged with allegations of womanizing, binge-drinking and sexual assault (which he denies), several se...
Feb 16, 2025•28 min
In the first weeks of his second term, President Donald Trump has wasted no time in using Executive Orders to suspend all new asylum claims, freeze government hiring and spending, strip back agencies established by Congress, and offer a buyout deal for thousands of federal workers. So far, the courts have been the only substantive roadblocks to Trump’s agenda, but is the President ready to defy the courts? The White House has accused the media of "fear mongering the American people". As Trump pu...
Feb 14, 2025•40 min
Americast makes its predictions for 2025 as Donald Trump continues to create headlines with his first 100 days as president. Justin, Sarah, Anthony and Marianna make an audio time capsule of predictions, with plenty of suggestions from Americasters. It’s something we promised to do after the election, but with a packed news schedule, we’re belatedly bringing it to you now! How many stars will be on the US flag by the end of the year? Who will be the winner of the tech world? How will the Trump p...
Feb 14, 2025•36 min
Elon Musk is already in uncharted territory with his role in Donald Trump's administration, but in a surprise appearance inside the Oval Office yesterday, he brought his son along to an impromptu press conference alongside the president. The tech billionaire denied he was launching a hostile takeover of the federal government and said he was simply delivering the reform that Americans voted for. HOSTS: • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Marianna ...
Feb 12, 2025•22 min
On his first day in the role, Lord Mandelson talks to Americast about how the UK will handle Donald Trump. In his conversation with Sarah, Britain’s new U.S. Ambassador explains why the UK needs to respect Trump’s “strong and clear mandate for change”. Given President Trump’s fast moving and radical agenda, what kind of approach should the UK be taking, and will the ‘special relationship’ continue? HOSTS: • Sarah Smith, North America Editor GUEST: Lord Peter Mandelson, British Ambassador to ...
Feb 11, 2025•10 min
One day on from a big US Super Bowl weekend, what happened with Taylor Swift, and what was her reaction? We also hear Donald Trump defending Elon Musk in his traditional pre-game interview, telling Americans to expect further cuts to the federal government, particularly in education. Marianna, Anthony and Sarah join Matt Chorley to talk about the potential fallout from those cuts, plus allegations of political censorship at TikTok, tariffs on aluminium, and who is really behind Trump’s policies....
Feb 10, 2025•27 min
